Dresden Files: Your Story

Once upon a time I was deep in a search for a class-less game system. Having spent years mired in D&D 3.5, with it’s level progression at the front of my personal annoyance, I was in the market for a game with similar ideas (magic, adventure, tombs to rob) and conducted not a little research in this pursuit.

It wasn’t until years later my good friend Scott convinced me and my roommate to play Dresden Files. At first I was caught relatively off guard. Unlike many games you make characters last. The people you’re about to play don’t come into the equation until after, as a group, you’ve talked about the game and the world and made decisions on key locations or people with which to interact.

So far I’m splitting my favor 50/50 with World of Darkness for ease of play. While it makes an interesting story-spin for the Dresden Files books (which I’m told are quite good) I find it’s potential for other games is an under-discussed point. You spend almost a whole session on building the world you’re about to venture into, why not sand off the minutiae of conventional Dungeon Plundering and weave a compelling story of adventure and high fantasy.

I’m not sure where I was going with this. Dresden Files is worth playing if you happen to roll dice on a regular basis.